Price hikes fail to dent spending spree

Recent increases in the interest rate and fuel price have had little impact on the Eastern and Southern Cape this festive season, with most shops, restaurants and hotels reporting a bumper season.

Although some outlets said the Christmas rush had started a little later this year, most said sales had been up on last year.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, people spent money on children‘s toys and partying, but held back on some other staples of the festive season.

Toys R Us assistant manager Charmaine Korkie said on Wednesday business had been “hectic . . . much better than last year”.

Quickest to shift from the shelves were Transformers toys and the host of adornments linked to hit TV character Hanna Montana, as well as remote-controlled aeroplanes and cars for the more traditional mums and dads, Korkie said.

“They (parents) would arrive to buy a particular toy and then would have no choice but to take what was left. I don‘t know if everyone had won the Lotto or what.”

Always money to party?

With sales peaking the day before Christmas, the store finished 12 per cent up on last December, she said.

Meanwhile, Virtual Sports Cocktail Bar owner Patrick Grewar said 500 people packed into the beachfront Brookes Pavilion pub on New Year‘s Eve.

“The venue has only been open six months so it is not possible to compare year-on-year figures, but turnover for December was up 38% over November,” he said. “I guess South Africans always have money to party.”

However, the Bayworld museum and oceanarium complex did not fare so well, dropping 5% in terms of December attendance against the same period last year.

Director Sylvia van Zyl said she believed incorrect public perceptions that Bayworld no longer had dolphins played a major role in the decline. The future of the dolphins has long been debated but they remain Bayworld‘s top attraction, and some reports had been misconstrued, she said.

PE Hotels Group operations manager Doug Dudgeon said occupancy at the Beach Hotel at Hobie Beach had dropped by “a couple of percentage points . . . enough to be concerning”.

Up-country visitors under pressure of work?

“The season began later this year for us. One scenario is the pressure of work kept our usual visitors from up country away longer than normal. The more likely scenario is financial – people wanted to be here for Christmas and New Year, but came later because they could only afford 10 days.”

Friends & Blends coffee shop in Summerstrand Village also noticed the late beginning to the holiday season.

Manager Charles Muller said business had only picked up a week before Christmas, but had been busy ever since and “much better than last year”.

The Sunshine Coast, meanwhile, is experiencing an unprecedented holiday boom.

Shopkeepers are reporting an increase in holiday spending of up to 50% compared to last year, with Ndlambe Tourism director Bev Young saying the number of holiday-makers was up by at least 60% giving a total of 60 000 holiday-makers, with more than 20 000 of those in Port Alfred.

Young said after seven years of tourism development, the Sunshine Coast had come of age, with all accommodation taken and beaches “packed”.

“We have never seen so many people here in our lives.”

She was also impressed with the fact that this year there were almost no complaints about service and accommodation venues.

Great vibe

“It‘s a wonderful vibe. People were predicting high fuel prices and that the Zuma issue would affect us, but not at all.”

Along the Garden Route, business owners said they had been run off their feet, especially in the restaurant and accommodation industries.

Plettenberg Bay Business Chamber spokesman Barries Ferreira said it was “premature” to say how they had done compared to last year, but added that members had reported that they were very busy. Tourism officials confirmed it had been a bumper season in terms of accommodation bookings.

Knysna Tourism chief executive officer Craig Nancarrow said although it was too early to reconcile final figures, members had reported a very good season.

“Everyone was expecting the interest rate hike and new Credit Act to have an effect, but it was a very nice season. It was short and sharp, but it was what everyone had geared up for.”

He said all the Garden Route towns had been fully booked.

Source: The Herald

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